Ricketts Statement on the EPA’s Revised WOTUS Rule

August 29, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), a member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a revised Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Sackett v. EPA that struck down the EPA’s definition of “waters.”

“The Supreme Court told the EPA they took illegal actions in the original rulemaking,” Ricketts said.“The EPA’s new rule once again disregards concerns by farmers, ranchers, and small business owners across the country. The Biden administration had an opportunity to do better and failed. Today’s limited revisions reinforce once again big government overreach and ignoring the needs of the American people is the only method of governing President Biden abides by. We must continue to fight these detached-from-reality mandates with every tool we have.”

Ricketts has repeatedly called out the EPA for overstepping its authority in issuing the WOTUS rule. As Governor, he condemned the rule as “blatant federal overreach.” In March, he hammered Michael Regan, Administrator of the EPA, for failing to consider the perspective of farmers and ranchers as part of the public comments used to develop the WOTUS rule. He joined a bipartisan majority of Senators invoting to block the WOTUS rule and gave remarks on the Senate floor. He also made his opposition to WOTUS the subject of a weekly column in April.